Court Upholds Giuliani-Era Ban on Pet Ferrets

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

Published: June 22, 2002

The Bloomberg administration has not adopted every position held by the Giuliani administration, but it does agree that ferrets should not be kept as pets. Now it has won its case in court.

The State Supreme Court in Manhattan upheld a provision of the city health code that prohibits the possession of ferrets by private individuals. (Pet ferrets are still permitted elsewhere in the state.)

The Bloomberg administration inherited the lawsuit, which was filed in 1999 after the Board of Health under Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani added ferrets -- which are related to weasels -- to the list of dangerous wild animals banned as pets. The new administration agreed that ferrets posed a threat in a densely populated city of multiple dwellings. So it opted not to settle the suit.

Mr. Giuliani had taken on ferret lovers with some ferocity, once even suggesting that someone devoted to ferrets needed therapy. The city's ferret lovers turned out to be very vocal and organized, even offering a pro-ferret license plate frame on the Web at NYCFerrets.com.

Last week, the court rejected the argument that the ban was poorly researched, finding that ''any objective reading of the record before the court indicates without any question that the Board of Health acted legally and had a rational factual basis for its determination based on a substantial body of evidence.''

Louise Moed, assistant corporation counsel, said the city ''is pleased with this decision, which recognizes the Board of Health's authority and expertise to legislate in the area of public health and safety.''

It was a sad day in the ferret camp. ''All this decision does is undermine the public trust in government and the courts,'' said Gary Kaskel, who leads a group, New York City Friends of Ferrets. ''Nobody believes that ferrets are a public health risk. It flies in the face of common sense because they are legal in every county of New York except in New York City.''

Ferret lovers still hold out hope that the City Council will repeal the ban, and believe they have a friend in the speaker, Gifford Miller, who once sponsored a bill to legalize the pets. But a spokesman for Mr. Miller, Christopher Policano, said yesterday that there was ''no legislation on the horizon on this issue.''